Live More. Moments. with Hannah Fisher

Rebecca: Hi, I’m Rebecca Chaplin and I’m proud to be presenting Motors.co.uk’s new series ‘Live More Moments’, a series where our amazing guests share with us their car moments, memories from their first motor, nostalgic childhood road trips and the must-haves for their existing or future cars to enable them to Live More. 

In our first series, we’re chatting to some inspirational women of the automotive industry here in the UK as we celebrate one of the most important days of the year this month – International Women’s Day, whose theme this year is ‘break the bias’, championing for a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. So let’s chat with some of the women breaking the bias in the automotive industry. 

Before I introduce today’s guest, let me wish you all a very happy International Women’s Day and I hope that you’re celebrating in some way be that with a large event at your company or tonight’s bedtime story of leading ladies inspiring your little ladies to be anything they want. 

Back to today’s guest. This woman is celebrating her tenth year in the automotive industry at Motors.co.uk where her role has developed from sales force manager to a vital role within the marketing team. Her projects span from GDPR rollout, CRM migration and managing Motors.co.uk’s B2C campaigns including their ‘how to car’ series feature Ellie Taylor and their ‘More than Metal’ campaign which launched in March 2021. A recent project which I’m excited to talk about today is her role within the company, implementing Gumtree’s and Motors.co.uk’s first women’s health policy. So without further delay, please welcome Hannah Fisher, senior brand marketing manager at Motors.co.uk. 

Welcome, Hannah!

Rebecca: Will you be doing anything special for International Women’s Day?

Hannah: Well today’s Tuesday which means that my two daughters will have ballet this evening. I will be finishing work and picking them up for the usual Tuesday chaos of ballet, trying to get one of them to do their homework in the car, eating their tea, trying to remember all of their ballet kit – just a usual Tuesday really!

Rebecca: So as I mentioned in your intro, this is your tenth year at Motors.co.uk, can you tell us a bit about the career journey you’ve had over the last decade?

Hannah: So I joined in a fairly different role to the one I’m in now, but I joined the marketing team looking after the CRM system and I think actually that my role has changed but I have a thread of project management skills that sort of continues along. I can’t mention my career over the last 10 years without stating that I’ve had two children along that time as well because that has influenced a lot of the changes in my role and responsibilities along the way. I’ve gone from being a sole person responsible for the system at Motors – Sales Force – and then obviously I had to let go of that to go on maternity leave. Then I came back and wanted to take on other opportunities which Motors have thankfully been happy to support me with. Now, I’m part of the marketing team working on some super exciting things and yeah – 10 years. 

Rebecca: I can’t believe it really. But there’s a lot that you have achieved – going through that list there, there are some amazing projects with some amazing people. Do you ever think back and go ‘wow, I can’t believe I’ve fit all this in’.

Hannah: It’s been a very busy couple of years and combining being a working Mum and having children, I’m super lucky that I work with such a great bunch of people. I work with very supportive people that I’ve worked with for a very long time. We know each other very well and working on projects together is very easy in that respect. Also, I work with other people who have outside work responsibilities and I recognise that some people have to juggle but they manage this and work hard. 

Rebecca: So we’ve mentioned that today is a special day – International Women’s Day – and the theme is ‘breaking the bias’. What do you think the industry needs to openly talk about?

Hannah: I think there are a couple of different layers. I think all industries need to make sure that they are championing opportunities for all, regardless of their gender, their colour or their background. Everyone needs the opportunity to thrive in whatever they want to do. I think the automotive industry needs to continue to do what it has been doing. It’s not such a male-orientated industry anymore and it’s open to everybody. There is the opportunity for women to work in the automotive industry and be successful. You don’t have to be a car enthusiast, you don’t have to know everything about every single engine – it took me a long time before I actually knew what SUV stood for – because it actually doesn’t matter, you can still be good at your job without being a petrolhead. I think that there are opportunities for everyone in this industry. 

Rebecca: So keeping with that theme of ‘breaking the bias’, I briefly mentioned earlier that you’re involved with the first women’s health policy at Motors.co.uk – what does that actually mean for you and the company?

Hannah: I think that this is so exciting because what this does is affirms the commitment that the company has to look after its people. There is nothing really groundbreaking within this policy – it’s ways of working and existing policies that have been put into the context of looking after women’s health. We all have the ability to look after our team members and colleagues, but what this actually does is affirm that people will have the confidence to ask for support when they need it and the managers will have the confidence to support their teams. Yeah, it just affirms the commitment that the company has for its people – it’s a big thing. 

Rebecca: What would you say to someone who is watching this today who might be considering joining the industry or potentially finding a job at Motors.co.uk. 

Hannah: I think ten years at Motors.co.uk probably speaks for itself. It’s a great company, with a great team of people. We’ve had quite the journey along the way. I think that if anybody wanted to join Motors then they’d very much enjoy it and I think that if anybody wanted to join the automotive industry that there are huge opportunities. The car industry is forever changing – technology changes all the time – obviously there is this huge focus on electric vehicles at the moment and there’s so much going on that it’s very exciting to be a part of. 

Rebecca:That nicely leads on to our next question. You’re part of the ‘More than Metal’ campaign – what does ‘Live More’ mean to you?

Hannah: So ‘Live More’ to me means that the car enables you to do whatever you need to do in your life. I think that for me, as a parent it means that I can take my children from school and nursery to ballet and swimming, it means that I can do whatever I need to do. I also have my own hobbies and it means I can put whatever I need in my car and go where I need to go. The car is the enabler for my life. 

Rebecca: I think that’s very true. I love this next question because it means I’ve had some insider information from your colleagues, but I hear that your lease is up on your Golf and I was wondering what are you looking for in your next car?

Hannah: Ah so yes, I think it’s my fourth Golf in a row. My husband’s car is up as well and we always have to make decisions between us as to who is going to have which type of car. I have got a couple of horses so I need to be able to put a saddle in the back and it needs to be able to go off-road on occasions. My husband is keen on fishing, so he needs to get his fishing gear in the car and it needs to accommodate our holiday trips as well. Those conversations and those decisions are always made together. I think my next car will be of a similar size – a hatchback is the perfect size for me – and I think we will be both going for electric vehicles next as we think now is the time – definitely. 

Rebecca: It’s interesting when both people go for electric cars at the same time. You’re both fully invested then, so you can get the systems in place that you need.

Hannah: Yes, fully invested!

Rebecca: Well thank you so much for speaking to us today, I look forward to finding out what Motors.co.uk has in store for us this year.

Thank you to everyone who has watched, I hope that you’re enjoying this series and remember a new episode will be launching every Tuesday throughout March. If you’d like to find out more about this year’s International Women’s Day, we have shared all of the links below.

International Women’s Day